David Hartanto Widjaja

I’m pretty sure some of u juga shocked saat heard that story. Gue tuh lagi leisurely watching TV several days ago, then tiba2 ada sekilas news about this NTU stabbing incident. So being curious, gue waited patiently for the news to come at 9.30 pm. And boy, I was so shocked when the reporter mentioned the name of the ‘culprit’. It’s AN INDO NAME!!! Gue bener2 stunned sih, hearing all that news. Beritanya bilang that he stabbed his uni professor, and committed suicide by slashing his wrists and then jumped to his death.

I was speechless that night. Gue cari2 info lewat Google ttg dia. Ternyata banyak juga artikel ttg dia, ttg the incident and also ttg kejeniusan dia. Dia ternyata pernah ikutan International Olimpiade Matematika to represent Indonesia. Selain itu, gue juga found a site where several years ago, he asked for prayer requests for his exams.

Maaannnn, i dont know why gue kerasa so sad with all this. Padahal gue ga kenal dia gitu. It’s just that I feel that he was one of us. Orang Indo yg sama2 berjuang di Spore. And maybe, just maybe, since orang2 Indo disini itu a close-knit community, bisa2 saling kenal gitu lah, maybe one of us personally know him. And maybe, sapa tau one of us actually had the chance to talk to him or to reach out to him before he did all those things.

I kept wondering what was in his mind, what ran through his mind when he ran out from his prof’s room, after stabbing him. Apa dia kalut etc etc, sampe dia slit his wrists like that. Yah, gue ga abis pikir sih.

edwin2026:
I am one of David Hartanto’s close friend and I am here to give you
some facts, assumptions, possibilities about this case.

Facts:

1. Lok Tat Seng: Dean of Student of NTU gathered all Indonesian students in
International Student Center on evening after incident and he just said there was a witness on the spot who saw David’s body lying on the ground, dead. Dean did not say that witness saw David jumped from balcony. And that is, according to him, all he had seen.

2. The only official statement from police is: David was found dead at
the crime scene, they did not mention whether he committed suicide.

They only mentioned ‘The professor was believed to be stabbed’. The police
did not say that ‘the professor was stabbed’. Where this assumption come from? Why they did not say about it?

3. I and some Indonesian students gathered tonight, 3 March 2009, at 8 pm,
at International Student Center and talked to David’s parents.
They have seen his body. There was NO WOUND whatsoever on his wrists
and police also has confirmed it. I assumed that his parenst would not lie it means that all media news about ‘David slashed his wrist’ was FAKE.

4. The wounds found on David’s body, according to his parents,
were on his head (It is assumed due to fall injury), and slash wound on his neck. The wound on his neck is very suspicious, in my opinion. How he received that wound?? Again, according to his parents, police guessed that it may be happened when the bottom part of his head smashed the ground. In that case, his chin would have been broken but it did not. My question is: WHERE DOES THAT SLASH WOUND ON HIS NECK COME FROM?

Assumptions:
1. David stabbed professor. How did you know? The crime scene is a closed room, only David and that professor. No one saw what happened. Eye-witness only saw David run out from that room.

2. David committed suicide. How could someone who committed suicide drop himself into glass roof, instead of directly drop himself to the ground.

3. David slashed his wrist. I do not know where this news came from…

4. David’s motivation:

4.1. He was pissed off since his prof did not give satisfactory grade

The grade has not been released and he even has not submitted the report.
It is also NTU policy not to inform the student about the grade which they got before release of the result.

4.2. He had a mental problem

No record in Student Counselling Centre about his attendance. For bright student as him, I did not believe that he did not attend counseling if he had some problems. Also, he still brought bag with usual daily stuff, on incident day, such as drink bottle, towel, etc. If David planned to kill someone why would he prepare to bring such things. It is easier for him to just bring one knife and stab his prof on spot.

4.3. He was pissed off because his scholarship had been revoked

I knew David since I was his roommate for 2 consecutive
years during Mathematical Olympiad training camp. He almost did not
qualify for IMO, only managed to get at 14th rank from 15 people selected.
He still joked and laughed to me at that time. He also did not get anything from IMO and still fine, not seemed depressed whatsoever, and according to his parents, he said ‘At least, I managed to represent Indonesia at IMO’. He also still played Hammerfall game in Facebook at 2 am on the incident day. My friend saw his Facebook account online. How come a murderer played game in the night before incident? If I was him, I will seriously think how would I prepare myself tomorrow.

Possibilities:
1. Professor attacked David. I deduced this thing for several key points.
According to many reports, David’s clothes were soaked in blood. If the blood was the result from slashing his wrist, it should not soak his clothes since wrist is far from body. If the wound is from neck, it is easier.

2. David tried to run from Professor. After he realized that he was attacked, he resisted and ran from that room, with wound on his neck.

3. David fell because of unconsciousness. He panicked and probably lost his common sense because of terrible bleeding, dropped himself down into glassed roof to escape from his Professor.

I am responsible for what I have written here, and contact me at kaminari.no.me@gmail.com if you need any clarification.

I don’t know which one is true. But one thing I know for sure is, the news sometimes tend to exaggerate. Ditambah2in, dibumbu2in biar lebih seru. Why I said that? Because I experience it myself. You know that I’ve written this in my blog before. My parents were in the news, with their full name and stuff. Bringing shame to my family. But the thing is, the news fully exaggerate what had happened. Adding their own little stories here and there. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the newspaper. By the way, I still keep it to this day. I want to keep it as a memory of what the Devil has done to my family, and this will be a testimony of what God is doing and will do for my family’s deliverance!

Sepertinya skarang the Devil bikin masalah keluarga gue smakin menyebar, smakin affect banyak orang, even diluar keluarga sendiri. But I know, saat Tuhan deliver us from all this, banyak orang pun juga akan terselamatkan! Itu salah satu janji Tuhan buat keluarga gue. God is allowing the Devil to do all this affecting so many lives, so that nanti saat Tuhan memulihkan keluarga gue, those people will see that HE IS GOD!! A living God that is!

Yah anyway.. kok jadi sidetracked… hehehe.

Ya pokoknya gitu deh. Why did I post David Hartanto’s story? Coz I believe he should have a chance of ‘defending’ himself. The news might create their own little story. Many people assumed this and that happened, but we will never know. Unless that prof finally testify. But anyway, what happen to the prof now? Is he still in critical condition or something?

I wrote all this, base on the fact that I just can’t fully believe the news anymore these days. It’s kinda hard for me now to trust or to know which news are legitimate and which are not.

About the case? I truly have no idea. I don’t want to judge either David or the prof.

I’d just like to say my condolences to his family and those people who are affected.

I really think that this case should be investigated. Too many holes with the media story. I feel sorry for David Hartanto and his family. What a shame for indo to lose such a bright young man. Hopefully, the authority can bring justice and clear his name for all those allegations made about him.